CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Senator Tom Cotton on the Middle East

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

BLITZER: Key word, hopefully. Matthew, thanks very much.

And joining us now, Senator Tom Cotton. He's the Arkansas Republican. He's a key member of both the Armed Services and the Intelligence Committees. He's a combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Senator, thanks very much for coming in.

SEN. TOM COTTON (R), ARKANSAS: Yes. Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: What are you hearing? What's the latest specific information you're hearing why that Russian airliner went down with 224 people on board?

COTTON: Wolf, I have received several briefings this week about the Russian airliner going down.

Much of that is classified information. But let's just look at what has been said publicly. Senior U.K. officials say there is a significant possibility that was a bomb planted on the plane. Islamic State officials or leaders in the Sinai say they took the plane down. They do have a history, though, of making exaggerated claims.

And, as you were just saying, Russian officials have been denying that there's any conclusions you can draw. I think, for the time being, we should wait for the investigation to be completed. We should especially work with our Egyptian partners before we jump to conclusions.

But it does raise a couple important points. One, Vladimir Putin is a former KGB spy. He will use this incident however he can to solidify his control at home, to continue to get more support for his policies abroad.

There is no doubt about that. And, two, the Islamic State is present in the Sinai of Egypt. America has hundreds of troops there as part of our multinational forces observer team. And Egypt is a critical country in the Middle East; 80 million people live in Egypt. And the presence of the Islamic State there, the threat that they pose to tourism, whether it's in Sharm el-Sheikh or at the pyramids and the sphinxes, which is an important part of Egypt's campaign, raises real, real doubts about the president's policy for countering the Islamic State, because it's metastasizing all across the region.

BLITZER: It's going through North Africa, throughout the Middle East into South Asia as well.

Here's what President Obama just said about this attack, whatever it was, on this Russian airliner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think there is a possibility that there was a bomb on board. And we're taking that very seriously.

You know, we know that the procedures we have here in the United States are different than some of the procedures that existed for outbound and inbound flights there. And we're going to spend a lot of time just making sure that our own investigators and our own intelligence community figures out exactly what is going on before we make any definitive pronouncements, but it is certainly possible that there was a bomb on board.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Certainly possible there was a bomb on board. That's pretty specific.

COTTON: He's right. No, he's right. It's certainly possible, but we do have allow our own intelligence professionals, investigations to reach their conclusions before we jump to any conclusions.

BLITZER: As far as you know, is the British government and the U.S. government on the same page as far as this downing of this plane?

COTTON: Well, the United States and the United Kingdom are two of the closest countries in the world, part of the so-called Five Eyes partnership where we share a lot of intelligence. I wouldn't say that we're on the same page yet where our senior elected officials are reaching the same conclusions.

But our intelligence professionals always work very closely, hand in hand together.

BLITZER: All right, Senator stand by. We have much more to talk about.

We're getting more information coming in as well, much more with Senator Tom Cotton when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:19:35]

BLITZER: We're back with Senator Tom Cotton.

We're following the breaking news, President Obama now acknowledging publicly that it is certainly a possibility that a bomb downed a Russian airliner, killing 224 people.

Senator, as we look at all of this that is going on, the concern is if it could happen there, could it happen here? Do you know if the Department of Homeland Security, the TSA, the FAA, are they taking steps to tighten security right now, whether involving planes in the United States or planes coming into the United States?

[18:20:05]

COTTON: Well, Wolf, I don't want to comment on specific procedures, because those are obviously very sensitive.

But, obviously, the TSA and DHS and FAA work very closely with our law enforcement professionals, as well as our intelligence community. They take lessons learned from what we see overseas. And they apply them here at home as well.

You're right, though, that if it could happen in Sharm el-Sheikh, it could happen in a lot of places. As we were talking earlier, it could happen in Cairo and American aircraft fly into Cairo as well. And we're talking about one of the largest countries in the Middle East that sits across a strategic waterway, the Suez Canal. And the fact the Islamic State is even present in the country and can claim something like this, whether that claim is true or not, goes to show that our strategy to counter the Islamic State is not making process.

BLITZER: Because ISIS is did in fact blow up this plane, viewers who are watching us here in the United States, all over the world, they are worried if they're going to be traveling, let's say, overseas right now.

Should they be worried?

COTTON: I think that's a reasonable worry if it turns out that there was in fact a bomb aboard this aircraft, especially when we're going -- when aircraft are going from the United States into those countries or more likely coming out of those countries.

The Islamic State also claims to have anti-aircraft weapons as well. Now, sometimes, those claims have been proven false. But it goes to show that we can't let a group like this continue to metastasize across the Middle East because of the threat they pose to American citizens, as well as our allies.

BLITZER: At a minimum, they have shoulder-fired weapons that could -- surface-to-air -- but do they have major surface-to-air missiles that could be launched from a truck, for example?

COTTON: Wolf, I don't think we have any reporting that shows they have that yet.

But even heavy machine guns that are mounted in the back of a vehicle can be used to bring down aircraft.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: If the aircraft is flying low, but if it's flying at 33,000 feet.

(CROSSTALK)

COTTON: Well, then you have to have pretty advanced anti- aircraft weaponry.

BLITZER: Right. They don't necessarily have that specific information.

COTTON: Hopefully not.

BLITZER: What should the U.S. be doing right now to deal with this new threat?

COTTON: I think we have to be more aggressive in taking the fight to the Islamic State.

The acronym ISIS stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. But increasingly we see that it's not limited there. We see it in Egypt. We see it in Libya. We see it in Afghanistan. And until we get back on offense, until we increase the pace of our bombing in Iraq and Syria, until we actually address the crisis in Syria as well that's giving fuel to the Islamic State because of the sectarian warfare, the Islamic State is going to continue to attract adherents.

We can only kill them at a certain rate, but they are going to continue to attract more adherents until we show the world that they are losing.

BLITZER: The U.S. -- you served in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm really worried. Tell me if you think I'm overly worried about those 700 American soldiers who are in Sinai right now, part of this multinational peacekeeping peace observer force.

COTTON: Any time we have American troops abroad, Wolf, I'm concerned about their safety.

But this multinational force that we have in Sinai, with several hundred million Americans -- or several hundred Americans, may be particularly vulnerable because of the Islamic State's presence on Sinai.

But I have consulted with senior officials in our government, as well as in the government of Egypt and Israel. And I can tell you I'm confident that they both have the security measures in place they need to protect themselves, but also the contingency plans in place in case there were to be a major pitched battle with the Islamic State.

BLITZER: Our Brian Todd just did a report, though. These guys who are there, 700 Americans, they have machine guns basically. That's about it.

COTTON: But they have two very good partners in the government of Egypt and the government of Israel, who want them there because it's part of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, which is an important cornerstone of our foreign policy in the Middle East.

And between the United States government and the governments of Israel and Egypt, I'm confident that we have all the plans in place we need to keep them safe.

BLITZER: All right, Senator Cotton, thanks very much for joining us.

COTTON: Thanks, Wolf.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source